NBA High-5: If Mavericks reach new heights, series against Trail Blazers will be seen as a key

Ross Hamilton/The OregonianA six-game first-round tussle with the Blazers might have been exactly what the Mavericks needed to prepare for the Lakers.

The five most interesting stories, rumors and notes in the NBA:

1. The Game 4 launching pad: If the Dallas Mavericks go on to beat the Lakers in their best-of-seven series and even win their first NBA title, they might need to thank Brandon Roy.

It's amazing how the Mavericks' series against the Blazers seems to have changed so much of the perception of the team, especially now that they are up 2-0 in their series against the Lakers after two wins in Los Angeles. The best-of-seven series continues tonight in Dallas.

The references to the Portland series keep coming. The Dallas Morning News' Brad Townsend harkens back to Game 4 in Portland, when the Mavericks, who had led by 23 points, watched Roy slice them up for 18 fourth-quarter points, leading to an improbable 84-82 Portland victory.

Instead of wilting, the Mavericks buckled down and won the next two games to close out the series, showing -- or perhaps gaining -- a resolve that previously didn't seem to be in the franchise's character. If the Mavericks do indeed reach new heights, they will surely look back at their response to Game 4 against Portland as a key point.

"If Dallas continues down this now seemingly open playoff road, it
should pull over long enough to send Mr. Roy a thank-you text," the Dallas Morning News' Brad Townsend writes (exerted; the entire column is behind a pay wall).

A big key for Dallas has been its bench, the Fort Worth Star Telegram's Dwain Price writes. The Mavericks' bench advantage was a big factor in their series against Portland. Even against a Lakers team that includes Sixth Man of the Year award winner Lamar Odom, Dallas' reserves have been superior, outscoring the Lakers' bench 65-42 in the series.

"Our bench is one of our strengths," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

The Mavericks, who did not win a road game in their first-round series loss to San Antonio last season, lost their first two games in the Portland series, too. But after clinching the series in Portland, they also won two in a row in Los Angeles.

Shannon Brown is being listed as a starter for tonight's game, meaning he would start at shooting guard and Kobe Bryant at small forward, the Orange County Register's Kevin Ding reports. Ding writes that coach Phil Jackson does not like playing Odom with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol as doing so makes the Lakers' defense too slow, Ding writes.

The stakes in the series go beyond a third championship. With Jackson set to retire, failure to win a title could result in this incarnation of the Lakers being broken up, the L.A. Times' Broderick Turner reports.

"We discussed that buttons will be pushed," point guard Derek Fisher tells Turner. "That's the reality, and it's business with this team. You
have to understand it and appreciate it for what it is."

APRockets GM Daryl Morey has been a busy man since the team parted ways with coach Rick Adelman.

3. Far-reaching search: The Houston Rockets search for a successor to Rick Adelman continued this week with more interviews, including the first of a sitting head coach -- or somewhat, anyway.

Frank Vogel, who guided the Pacers to their first postseason berth in five years, interviewed with Rockets GM Daryl Morey on Thursday, the Indianapolis Star's Mike Wells reports. Vogel and Morey know each other from their time working together with the Celtics.

Morey has been a busy man since the Rockets and Adelman decided to part ways after Adelman's contract expired at the end of the season. Just this week, he also has interviewed former Rockets players John Lucas and Sam Cassell, and Celtics assistant coach Lawrence Frank, the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen reports. Morey also has interviewed Mario Elie, Mike Woodson, Jack Sikma and Kelvin Sampson, with Kevin McHale also scheduled to be interviewed.

4. On the other hand: The other team with a head coaching vacancy has been far quieter. Golden State opted not to bring back Keith Smart as coach, but so far there has nothing beyond speculation in the Bay Area.

One reason is surely that the team has new ownership, which is looking to join the league's elite franchises and apparently willing to spend money to do so, if the grandiose words of new CEO Joe Lacob are any indication.

But Monte Poole of Bay Area News Group points out, the NBA is a players' league, and the Warriors need better players and certainly a more balanced roster to reach that upper plateau -- or at least make the playoffs -- not matter who coaches them.

Smart took an unbalanced roster and got 36 wins out of it -- an improvement of 10 victories from the previous season. That's solid work, especially considering point guard Stephen Curry missed eight games and was hampered by ankle issues all season, and forward David Lee sat out nine games.

Smart deserved another year -- 2011-12 was an option year that Golden State did not pick up -- to build on what he started.

5. Back to business: Stop the presses -- a Maloof spoke, and it wasn't to deny a rumor or rip a politician. Gavin Maloof talked about ... basketball.

Maloof, one of the Kings' co-owners, emerged from a lunch with sponsors and briefly talked a little shop with reporters, something he and his brothers have not had much chance to do recently. He said the Kings would like to re-sign center Samuel Dalembert -- who will likely be a coveted free agent -- and guard Marcus Thornton, the Sacramento Bee's Ryan Lillis reports. The team plans to be active during the summer, Maloof said.

"We have money, we have cap space, we have the most cap space of any
team in the NBA," Maloof said. "That's how you win. You need players.
And we have money and we're going to spend it."

Meanwhile, there was a little more sweeping up from the months-long relocation saga. The Bee's Joe Davidson criticized the city's broadcast outlets for repeatedly touting "exclusive" stories that were hardly exclusive, and constantly using unnamed "sources."